X Apprentice
by 630leosa
Summary: Slade remembers Red X trying to make a deal with him. Despite the fact that Robin is already his apprentice and no longer wearing the suit, Slade decided to take Red X up on the deal.


Robin hated being Slade's apprentice, but suddenly not being his only apprentice was weird.

He had to admit he had never expected this to happen. Sure, he'd practically asked to be the man's apprentice when he was Red X... but back then Slade wasn't supposed to know he was Robin, and when he found out that was supposed to be the end of it. He'd never expected Slade to take up the offer with the new Red X.

Robin had no idea how it happened. One day he'd come home from 'work', as Slade liked to call it, only for Slade to announce that a rather ticked-off Red X was now working for him as well. Apparently Slade had decided that since _Red X _had made the deal to become the man's apprentice - and despite the fact that Robin was no longer the guy wearing the suit - Red X had to live up to it. According to Slade, the thief had accepted the deal when he stole the suit.

Unfortunately for Robin, only certain areas of the abandoned clock tower had been renovated since Slade had taken over. That meant the only place for Red to sleep right now was Robin's room, at least until Slade had time to set up another working bedroom. Still, he'd assured them that they'd still have to earn the right to separate rooms, and that he wasn't making their comfort a priority.

Robin watched as Red X carefully checked out their now-shared bedroom. It wasn't just the way the thief checked for anything dangerous, or valuable, before finally settling down on the fair-sized bed. Robin had already done that anyway. It was how relaxed he seemed to be about the whole situation. He completed the image of being totally at home by removing his cape and reaching up to remove his mask.

Robin's eyes widened, wondering if Red expected him to follow suit and remove his own mask. The mask, and therefore his identity, seemed to be the only luxury that Slade had actually allowed him to have. Robin hadn't even taken his mask off in front of his own teammates, and yet here was Red X taking his mask off in front of an enemy!

It turned out that Red X was a redhead, though his hair was darker then usual due to the fact that it was greasy. His pale complexion told Robin that even before stealing the Red X suit, he barely went out during the day. His eyes were hidden behind a second mask, which explained how relaxed he was when removing the first one. Beneath two thick bangs that curled in towards his forehead, there was a deep red domino mask which made his ginger hair seem even brighter by comparison.

"I'd tell you to take a picture, kid... But neither of us are going anywhere for a while." Red commented, making the other teen blush as Robin realised that he was indeed staring. "So I guess you'll have plenty of time to look. See anything you like?" His smirk was clearly visible without his mask. And without the scrambler Robin could hear his real voice for the first time.

"And what makes you think I'd swing that way?" Robin scoffed.

"That fact that you didn't object to the idea that you were gay?" Red asked, trying to look innocent.

"Maybe because I'm not homophobic… Are you gay?" There was something about the thief's voice that seemed awfully familiar, but Robin couldn't quick place it.

The thief shrugged his shoulders, with a wicked grin. "I'm not picky."

Suddenly Robin realised what was familiar about his accent. "You're from Gotham?" Robin was genuinely surprised, he'd noticed how similar their voices sounded, but he'd always assumed that was because of the scrambler. Red X's accent sounded a bit too rough to be from anywhere near the manor though, it sounded more like the seedier parts of Gotham.

"Crime Alley, born and bred." His smirked widened, as if that was a huge compliment. "Bet you're from the rich part of Gotham, right?"

"I, uh…" Robin didn't want to say anything that might give away his identity. It was common knowledge that he was from Gotham, but he was afraid that he might give away too much information.

"Bet you're friends with the brat..." Red's face turned slightly darker, and his smile faded noticeably.

"The... brat?"

"Yeah… Maybe it's only the criminal underworld that calls him that." Red seemed to find his grin again pretty quickly, tilting his head to look over at the hero. "You know Wayne's little ward?"

"Grayson?" Robin's breath caught in his throat. This was far too close to Red finding out his real identity, but on the other hand not playing along would probably look suspicious.

"That's the one. Stole a cycle from him once." He grinned, clearly proud of himself. Robin had to admit that he deserved to be, he never had managed to track down the bike or the thief who'd stolen it. Luckily the glare he was giving the thief now could be passed off as his 'hero instincts'.

After few moments of silence Red seemed to get bored and started to look around the room again. "There a shower in there?" He asked nodding towards the second door in the room.

"…Yeah."

"Good, haven't had a proper shower in ages!" He started undressing even before he got to the door, giving the hero a good look at the thief's muscled chest and arms, as well as a brief flash of green-blue eyes, before disappearing into the next room.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Robin growled, he could hear Red X laughing through the door.

"I'm a street rat, kid. We make the most of what we get." He'd turned the shower on now, but raised his voice so he could be heard from the next room. "Besides. From my point of view I'm just working as usual. Just getting a roof over my head and shower and a meal for doing it."

Robin sat in silence while X was in the shower, and tried think about what he actually knew about his new 'partner'. He didn't know much about the thief at all, and he'd looked pretty hard for information in the past. He'd as good as told him that he'd been living on the streets, but the things that he'd stolen should have more than saved him from living like that anymore.

The fact that he was from Gotham was even more confusing. His team had commented on how similar they were, even accusing Robin of having taken up the name again. Red X even fought like him, maybe a bit less controlled and slightly more violently, but still undoubtedly using similar techniques.

X came out of the bathroom about twenty minutes later with one towel wrapped around his waist as he used a second one to dry his hair. He'd already replaced the domino mask before entering the bedroom. Slade had left a second apprenticeship 'uniform' for Red, who gave it a disgusted look before getting dressed in a pair of black sleeping pants with Slade's logo on them.

Robin noticed two things unusual about Red now that he wasn't wearing his usual outfit. He had some sort of red and black tattoo on his chest and what looked like a thin black collar around his neck.

"What's with the tattoo?" Better to ask directly then try to dance around it.

"What? Oh..." Robin was pretty good at reading people, and it was clear the Red X hadn't mean to show him his tattoo. "Guess you would have seen it anyway…" He shrugged trying to make it seem like he didn't care, before walking over so that Robin could see it better.

The two parts of the tattoo had clearly been done at different times: the red feather was an old one, the colours were slightly faded with age and stretched slightly where he had grown. Back in Gotham, Batman and Robin had arrested a few troublemakers with the same tattoo, so Robin had already guessed that it was a gang symbol. The second part was unfamiliar and much newer, two bold black arrows forming a cross over the top of the feather symbol, as if he'd changed his allegiance but didn't want - or more likely couldn't afford - laser removal of the old tattoo.

"So, you were in a gang?"

"No, its my local youth group." Red joked, rolling his eyes at Robin stating the obvious. "Actually kid in crime ally it's not far off." He added with a grin.

"So. Why'd you leave?"

"Like I said, I like to work alone…" His face darkened slightly as he turned away to get ready for bed. "Bed big enough for the both of us? Or should one of us take the floor?" He asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"It's a pretty big bed. But it's up to you…I'll take the floor if you want?"

"Nah. I'll steal a couple of blankets and sleep on the floor." He shrugged, making a messy pallet on the floor next to the bed. "I'm probably more used to it then you anyway." He muttered under his breath, quiet enough that he probably didn't think that robin had heard it.

"I don't mind taking the floor. During Titans stakeouts I've slept on a lot worse." Robin commented, sinking into the makeshift heap of fabric before Red X could protest or lie down, wrapping the covers around himself slightly.

Red X frowned, considering fighting him for the 'privilege' of sleeping on the floor. With a roll of his eyes, the red head flopped onto the bed. "Suit yourself then. We'll take turns." He muttered.

Robin smirked into the sheets. Red's little comment hadn't gone unnoticed - if the guy was used to sleeping rough, at least tonight he'd get plenty of rest. It was the least he could do after getting him into this situation in the first place.

Robin just hoped they could both get out of this situation with out too much damage.


End file.
